


The Pants™

by sauer (Showert_ime)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Anxiety, Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff and Crack, Light Angst, M/M, Romance, a quest for pants, vaguely described sensory issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 09:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13455363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Showert_ime/pseuds/sauer
Summary: Baekhyun needs to buy new pants.





	The Pants™

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this without any expectations, don't judge

There are, in total, eight pairs of pants on Baekhyun’s bed. 

More precisely, there are three pairs of jeans, four pairs of sweatpants, and one pair of leggings (because why the hell not). 

Two of the jeans are blue, one’s black; two pairs of sweatpants are grey, the rest black; and the leggings, also black. 

On the other side of the bed, fists on his (narrow) hips and a furrow in his brows, Kyungsoo is staring at the various pieces of clothing like they are an insult to his entire family. 

Baekhyun, sitting amidst the pairs of pants, whines. He’s so, so going to die. 

In front of him, there’s the pair of fake black jeans—his favourite, really, for it’s just loose enough around the hip area, doesn’t rub against his skin in an irritating way, and, bonus, it looks appropriate for about every outing from going to a friend’s place to a casual job interview.

It’s just that there are now holes where the knees and the inside of his thighs would be, because Baekhyun, being the practical young adult he is, is always wearing them. 

Literally always wearing them. It’s just that the last wash was officially one too many. 

“To be honest,” mutters Kyungsoo, a sigh threatening to break the rest of his sentence, “you’ve been wearing them nonstop for months. Every. Time. You went out. So I guess it’s to be expected.” 

He huffs in such an exaggerated fashion that one would expect some strands of hair to be pushed away from his forehead, but no, because Kyungsoo is basically bald at the moment. 

Okay, he isn’t bald per se. It’s just that for the past summer months, he has been keeping his hair incredibly short. 

(Baekhyun will not say it because he still finds him amazingly attractive and it’s a lot of fun to feel the stubby short hairs under his palms and lips, but still.) 

“In short, you need to go out and buy yourself another pair. I know, I know, you have sweatpants and you would basically wear them every day if you could, but if you’re not going to wear the other jeans you have when you need something proper, what’s the point?” Kyungsoo rambles on, now obviously deeply involved in his assessment of the situation. 

Baekhyun also knows it’s his boyfriend’s way of rationalizing, but it certainly does not make him feel any better about his tendency to stick to the same things—and cause them to wear off quickly. 

It’s not that he hates change per se. 

It’s rather that most existing fabrics annoy the hell out of him, and he quite fancies wearing the clothes he really, really likes. 

Over, and over, and over again. You see, it’s his number one strategy to avoid mental breakdowns every few day or so. Not only does he save time every morning, he can also rest assured that his nerves will not exhaust him and that he will not feel too bad about his own appearance. (Because he knows he looks good with his favourite pieces of clothing on.)

Still, finding something comfortable enough to wear outside when you have hips and thighs such as Baekhyun’s is quite the (not-at-all) magical quest. 

In short, it sucks, hard, and definitely not in the same way as Kyungsoo’s mouth does. 

“Soo,” he tries, “I really—I mean the reason I don’t wear anything else than this pair of pants and my sweats is just because the rest is—” 

“Not comfortable enough, I know.” 

Not comfortable enough because Baekhyun’s kind of a precious bitch when it comes to how everything that touches his skin feels. Well, maybe he isn’t just being a precious bitch about it. And it’s not Everything. Just jeans, polyester, wool, sometimes acrylic and, well, a majority of synthetic fabrics on the market. 

Cotton is the only one that exists to him. Kyungsoo lets him think this way, so long as he accepts to change when his boyfriend tells him his shirt smells like sweat. 

And it’s quite hard, again, to find comfortable man pants when you have hips the size of—something. He does not have anything to compare it to. Feminine hips, then? Not feminine enough to wear actually girl pants, though. He already tried. 

For a man, his hips are wide, quite curvy, and with them comes the uselessness of belts and thighs he wishes were a tad bit thinner. 

Kyungsoo, though, always gushes about how much he loves them, and Baekhyun would be a hypocrite for saying he does not like his own, but meanwhile enjoys the hell out of Kyungsoo’s well shaped, equally soft thighs and calves, yeah? Yeah. But Kyungsoo has narrow hips and a convenient lack of awareness about how everything feels on his skin. 

But hey. He has to be fair. Kyungsoo has his own issues to deal with on a regular basis, just as he has his own. Bitterness is not what invades his mind when he thinks of his boyfriend; he’s an angel who, by being present and a good listener, makes just about everything more bearable. 

Baekhyun groans. “Guess we’ll go shopping tomorrow morning, then. I don’t have to go out before that, so…” He trails off, his heart breaking a little bit at the thought of spending money on something so frustrating—frustrating until he finds the right pair, that is. Yes. Yes! Be positive, Baekhyun, your boyfriend will help you find the right one!

Kyungsoo nods, already starting to fold the other pairs of pants. What follows next takes Baekhyun aback. “I actually can’t accompany you because I told Sehun I’d help him with his exam prep, but call me if there’s anything, okay? It’s not like I’ll be far on foot anyway.” 

“Oh, uh, sure,” he hesitates, “yeah, it’s totally fine.”

Shiver. Shopping alone is hell. He had just assumed, obviously and once again, that Kyungsoo would be free to cater to his needs. 

He has already done this alone. He can definitely do it again. It’s just buying pants. 

Baekhyun swallows nervously, a joke of a smile on his thin lips. Kyungsoo raises a dubious eyebrow at him, clearly not buying it. 

 

Malls are loud, but Baekhyun made a brilliant choice and decided to go on a quest for pants on a relatively calm Monday morning, if only to ease his own misery. 

Needless to say, he’s glad he did, because he would have ripped his hair off his head hours ago instead of now. Which is, if you ask him, still much better. 

He has gone through five shops, eight pairs of jeans, two pairs of slacks—and none of them fit him. Oh, sure, he still has at least four more clothing stores to visit (fucking huge mall thank you), but Baekhyun is not exactly known for his shopping endurance amongst his friends. He fancies makeup from time to time and definitely knows what colours go together, but it’s just so much easier to stay in his comfort zone and play games on your days off, you know? 

Still, he cannot go home empty-handed. He made the effort of going out alone, taking two different bus lines and walking to the mall, so it should not have to go to waste. 

It’s hard. It’s incredibly hard, because he needs to be careful of not bumping into anyone, find pants, find the right sizes (the right size? what even) and models he likes, try them on, and so on. 

If he was honest with himself, the worst is not finding pants that will actually make it past his hips. No, the factor that really makes it all the more complicated is his need for comfort. 

As soon as the fabric digs a little bit too much into his stomach, he just nopes-the-fuck-out of the deal most of the time. On top of that, most man pants look incredibly baggy on him since he always needs to go a few sizes higher because of his hips, and the I’m-wearing-a-bag-look is usually not what he’s going for. 

So, alright. He is difficult. His hips are, too. His tummy, also. 

But right now, he just really want to cry. 

As he shuffles out of a changing room with the last pairs of pants he has tried on, an employee walks up to him with a bounce in her steps. 

A cute, forest green blazer hugs her small frame and the skinny jeans she’s wearing are literally the perfect match for her short but elegant legs. She’s cute, almond eyes and lips that briefly remind him of the cat videos he was watching in bed this very morning. “Are you keeping any of this? Did you find what you were looking for?” Each word is punctuated with a cheerful intonation and wow, it’s not every day one comes upon such a happy worker. 

Baekhyun blinks, gaping a bit as he processes the questions. His chest is tight, and his eyes are burning. Disappointment and fatigue levels are high, too high. “I, I’m not going to keep anything, thanks?” 

He means to look unaffected, decided, but it comes out squeaky and ridiculously high-pitched. The girl, Yeri, if he goes by what’s written in blocky letters on her name tag, just nods dumbly. “Uh, alright, here, let me take care of it.” 

But then, he basically shoves the angering pieces of clothing in her arms before she can even reach out for them, and promptly begins to walk away, his entire being shaking as tears of frustration are forced back. Before he knows it, he’s out of the shop and into the mall corridor, disoriented but in dire need of a calm place where to cool down. 

At the end of the corridor, near entrance 7, a lonely bench. Perfect. 

He sits on it, an ounce of relief making his way to his legs as he can finally let himself go slack. 

Needless to say, Baekhyun is ridiculous, and he’s never ever going back to that specific clothing store.

The girl must think he is rude and weird as fuck. Like, really, who treats anyone like that? He let himself be overwhelmed for no fucking good reason, almost started crying on the spot, and almost forced the things into her arms. Ah. 

He feels horrible. 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

Uh oh. He peers through the fingers with which he was hiding his face, his breath stuck in his throat as he takes in the sight of the employee, Yeri, standing before him. 

Dread settles deep into his guts. “I, ah, I’ll be just fine.” He doesn’t need this unnecessary attention. It’s embarrassing at worst. “You should go back to your—tasks.” 

She clucks her tongue, small hands on her hips—hips that are soft, rounder than Baekhyun’s. “I can afford five minutes. So, what’s wrong?” 

She’s weirdly direct, seemingly at ease in a way that Baekhyun can’t fathom. As she plops down on the bench beside him, he fixates on his own hands, their lines and wrinkles and texture. She’s staring—he can feel her gaze burning into his temple. 

Because it seems like she’s not going to leave him alone before he answers, he gives in. For some reason, the worst of his panic has seeped away, diluted in the air because of the surprise the girl brought with her presence. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Might as well be honest. Maybe she’ll leave him be if she realizes just to what extent he’s dumb. 

“In short, I’m an idiot who’s having a mental breakdown over finding the right pair of pants?” 

He speaks so fast the words are mushed together, probably unclear to the girl. He doesn’t dare turn his head to look at her; she’s probably looking at him like he’s the most ridiculous being to have ever walked the Earth. 

Instead, though, she just giggles. “You don’t know how relatable that was.” 

Baekhyun frowns, promptly twists around on the bench to blankly stare at her. “How is that even remotely relatable? It’s just dumb. And also,” He glances down at her own skinny jeans, how they seem to fit her perfectly. 

She seems to catch up on his thoughts before he can really add anything. “Oh, I made these pants myself. I know I’m short and small, but actually, it’s just really hard finding pants that suit my frame. My hips are too wide for the industry standard,” she shrugs, a smile on her face. 

Baekhyun glares. “Your hips are—they’re — they’re tiny. Fucking tiny. How even?” Laugh escapes her lips. “Most pants in the shops around are like, made for sticks. Not that I can’t appreciate long, lean legs. Just not a shape I can wear is all, and that’s mostly what they sell around.” 

As he takes in her body shape, he thinks he can understand. She’s small, she’s thin, but she’s not all straight angles either, and while she is short, she definitely has hips and thighs. 

A bit like Baekhyun, except Baekhyun is a man, and man are not typically defined as “having curves”. Well, save for the ass, maybe. 

“This is dumb,” he mumbles, looking ahead. She nods along, legs swinging. 

Suddenly _As We Fall_ starts blaring from his coat pocket. He jumps and so does Yeri. He rushes to grab his cellphone, almost dropping it in the process, and finally manages to press the green call button as he brings the phone to his ear. “Hello?” 

“Babe?” 

Kyungsoo’s voice, deep and mellow. The volume is obnoxiously loud and Yeri, who hears, snorts behind her manicured hand. Baekhyun thinks he hears her say “League of Legends, I can’t fucking believe,” but he tunes her off. 

He also, just knows that his ears are that vivid, burning shade of red. Still, he wills his voice into something more neutral, steady. “Soo. Is everything alright?” 

Kyungsoo audibly scoffs on the other end. “I’m okay. Sehun’s doing better with exam prep than I thought he would. Also,” there’s insistence on the last word, “you kind of texted me earlier. Are you okay?” 

Oh. 

That. 

He had texted him earlier, after the fourth store. Something along the line of “i want to kms i can’t find fucking pants whatever”. Gracious, full of hope, definitely words meant to reassure his boyfriend.

Right. 

“I, uh, sorry for that.” Baekhyun can almost see Kyungsoo shaking his head in disappointment. Or something. 

“I’m not mad, Baekhyun, but next time, just call me, okay? So that I can help you. Even if it’s just to let you ramble to me, I don’t care.”

Baekhyun frowns. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk to Kyungsoo, but… “I didn’t want to bother you. And Sehun. Mostly?” 

A sigh. Beside him, Yeri is silent, and most definitely listening. Does he care? Not really, for he can’t bring himself to. “Baekhyun.” 

Kyungsoo’s stern voice. Uh-oh. 

He gulps, swallows with difficulty around the enormous lump in his throat. “What?”

“I’m your fucking boyfriend. I love you. And I know it’s hard for you. So just, call me and fucking talk to me until my ears bleed, I don’t care, just do it, okay? I want to help.” 

A pitiful sniff escapes from his control. “Are you crying?” Kyungsoo’s voice, not quite tainted with disbelief, but rather an extra veil of softness. 

“No, am not, it’s just the cold,” he says, petty. In truth, he’s been working so hard on keeping his eyes dry that his nostrils took on the role of faucets. 

Yeri, still beside him, hands him a kleenex. He gives her a grateful nod of the head and brings it to his nose, dabbing at the excess fluid. He’s a mess. He, Byun Baekhyun, is a fucking mess. 

“You know I love you, Baek?” 

His heart constricts, but it feels nice. Warm. “I know.” 

“You’re still at the mall, right?” 

He throws the girl beside him a quick glance, then hums. “Yeah. I haven’t found pants yet…” 

“Do you want me to come, or are you going to leave it at that for today?” 

He hesitates, greatly so. Normally, he’d just leave it at that and call it a day; he’d try another day, when he feels refreshed and, maybe, more in control of his own emotions. If he could bring Kyungsoo, it would already be a plus. 

He just doesn’t function that well without him, recently. He’s getting too comfortable—but whatever. 

“No, I want… I want to do it today. You can come after you’re done, I guess? Please.” 

Kyungsoo chuckles on the other end. His smile, heart-shaped and all soft lines and skin, must be wonderful to look at. “Alright. I’ll be there in thirty minutes, at most.” 

Baekhyun deflates. Oh, not with discouragement, but rather with relief, for he thought he’d have to spend some more hours alone. “Okay. Text me when you get there. Love you.” 

“Love you too, Baek. Go get a hot chocolate or something. Take the time to cool down, won’t you?” 

Against his will, he feels his lips stretch into a loving smile. “Okay. Thank you, Soo.” 

The call ends, and beside him, Yeri squeals. 

He had kind of forgotten about her for the last part. 

 

It turns out Yeri really just wanted to help him, and thought he was cute. “It’s sad you’re already taken,” she says, “but you look like good friend material, too, and you play Lol. And you’ve got Varus’s song on your cellphone, which means you can’t possibly be that bad.” 

All of what she says is meant to tease, he realizes, and it only makes him appreciate her more. They exchange cellphone numbers and while she quickly makes her way back to the store (her shift isn’t over until 5 and it’s barely 2 in the afternoon), Baekhyun slowly makes his way to the nearest coffee shop. 

What he orders is just a regular hot chocolate, but it smells and tastes amazing and the scalding heat of it permeating through the mug and into his fingers is magical. 

While he waits for Kyungsoo, he basks in the weird calmness that has slowly washed over him in the past minutes, sleepy by the time his boyfriend shows up. 

Together, they talk, hold hands, go through the stores Baekhyun hasn’t explored yet—and eventually, they find it. 

It being The Pants, the one pair that fits Baekhyun surprisingly just right.

It’s, really, of an unoriginal black, not too tight nor too loose, but it looks just fine and, most importantly, it doesn’t rub against his skin the wrong way. 

Kyungsoo even insists on buying a second pair of the same model, because “it looks really good on you,” and “might as well get two of those so you will get to keep them for a while longer.” 

Baekhyun loves him.

**Author's Note:**

> this was just to force myself to write a bit. so yes baek might seem like a bit of a dramaking, but i hope i won't offense anyone with that
> 
> i don't know, i just felt like it! i kind of relate to baekhyun a lot. i've been putting off buying actual pants for months and only wear leggings but uhm. i need real pants
> 
> it's just 
> 
> they're a pain in the ass
> 
> kudos and comments are appreciated!  
> i'm planning on updating some kaisoo smut or something soon hhh


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